Snoops in the City (A Romantic Comedy)

by Darlene Gardner

  "And you think new makeup will make that happen?"

  "It's worth a try."

  Tori tilted her head this way and that, critically examining Lorelei's fair coloring and fine bone structure, absently noting that she and Grady didn't resemble each other much at all.

  "You'd look even prettier with different makeup but I won't promise older." Tori tapped a finger against the side of her mouth. "Have you thought about coloring your hair?"

  "I already do."

  "I meant darker, not lighter," Lorelei said. "Society in general takes brunettes more seriously than blondes. When was the last time you heard a dumb brunette joke?"

  "I can't say that I have," Lorelei said slowly.

  "You'll want to wear your skirts a lot longer, too." Tori read panic in Lorelei's expression as she gazed down at her short, red micro-miniskirt. "When a woman's built like you, men tend to pay more attention to her body than her brain.

  "Along those same lines," she continued before Lorelei could object, "have you thought about breast-reduction surgery?"

  Both of Lorelei's hands flew protectively to her chest. "You can't be serious. . ." she began, then her eyes cleared and she dropped her hands. "You aren't serious. You're trying to make a point."

  "Did I succeed?"

  "Only if you wanted me to realize that changing my appearance wouldn't accomplish anything but making me miserable."

  "That about sums it up," Tori said. "This is only my opinion, but a man who won't take you seriously solely because of the way you look isn't worth the trouble."

  Lorelei nibbled on her lower lip and appeared thoughtful. "I might have given Wade other reasons not to take me seriously."

  "Then you have to change the way you act," Tori said.

  "You could be on to something.” Lorelei regarded her with a new gravity. "Now I understand why my brother's head over heels. Thank you."

  "You're welcome." Tori expected Lorelei to be on her way. Instead the other woman gave Tori a sheepish look.

  "Do you really think I'd look prettier with different makeup?"

  Tori nodded. "I really do. You tend to wear warm shades while cool shades would suit your fair coloring better."

  "I want you to understand first of all that I wholeheartedly agree with what you said about appearances not being everything,” Lorelei said.

  "Okay."

  "But do you think you could do my makeup?" she asked with a little grimace. "I'm fighting the good fight here, and, hey, prettier can't hurt."

  Tori laughed. "I sure can."

  Fifteen minutes later, Tori used the powder on a contour brush to blend the edges of the pink-based blush line on Lorelei's cheeks.

  "Remember when I said I didn't come here to talk about Grady?" Lorelei asked. "I changed my mind."

  Tori put down the contour brush and picked up a small jar of eye-shadow primer. "Oh," she said vaguely. She liked Lorelei. That didn’t mean she was ready to discuss the details of her relationship with Grady.

  "I need you to do me a favor, which in effect will be doing my brother a favor."

  "Close your eyes," Tori ordered and went to work applying the primer. When she finished, she used a fluff brush to apply a neutral base color to the entire eye area. "What do you need me to do?"

  "Grady's birthday is next week, and my parents made reservations at Giovanni’s. Do you know it?"

  "The Italian restaurant on Main and Third." Tori added a medium neutral color in the crease of Lorelei's eyes and extended it up the brow bones. "It's one of my favorites."

  "Ours, too," Lorelei said. "I need you to get Grady there at about seven on Tuesday."

  Tori chose a smoky gray eye shadow and applied it over the medium neutral base. "No problem. That’s not much of a favor. I think it's sweet that your parents are trying to surprise him."

  "That's the thing," Lorelei said. "It's not a surprise party."

  Tori lined Lorelei's upper lids, beginning at the outer corner of the eye and working toward the inner corner. Then she lined the lower lids, avoiding the lower inner lid so the eyes wouldn't look smaller. "I don't understand."

  "My parents think Grady knows about the dinner. He wouldn't return my mother's call after she phoned to invite him. I called her back for him and sort of told her he'd be there."

  Tori remembered the woman at the carnival insisting that Grady call his parents. And the way he'd deflected Tori's questions afterward.

  "Is something wrong between Grady and your parents?"

  "Something's very wrong, and it's eating me up," Lorelei said. "Grady and me, we've always had a great relationship with them. Now this. The worst part is nobody will tell me what it's about."

  "And you think getting Grady and your parents together on his birthday will make things better?"

  "They can't get worse. He won't even talk to them."

  Tori grew silent as she brushed mascara on Lorelei's upper and lower lashes with a much lighter touch than Lorelei herself used. "I'll mention it. I can't promise he'll come when he finds out your parents will be there."

  "Oh, but you can't tell him." Lorelei's eyes were pleading when she opened them. "If you do, I know for a fact he'll refuse to come."

  Tori shook her head. "I don't know if keeping it a secret is the right thing to do, Lorelei."

  "Of course it is. It's not right that there's this rift between them. Mom and Dad are ready to make up. Getting Grady to dinner could be all it takes."

  Tori hesitated, wishing Grady had confided in her about his troubles with his parents so she could make a more informed decision.

  "Please," Lorelei pleaded. "It's been almost a month. I don't know what else to do."

  "He might be angry."

  "Then he'll be angry at me, not you. I'll take the blame if things go wrong."

  Tori put down the eye-makeup brush and ran her hand through her hair. She simply couldn't make this important of a decision without help.

  "Could you excuse me for a minute?" she asked. Lorelei looked puzzled, but nodded.

  Tori retrieved her purse from behind the makeup counter and reached inside for the key chain and the miniature disco ball. She stood behind the counter, angling her body so that her back was to Lorelei.

  "Should I bring Grady to the dinner?" she whispered to the disco ball, then shook.

  "What's that?" a voice behind her asked.

  Tori jumped, dropping her key chain in the process. Lorelei bent over, picked it up and examined it.

  "Cool," she said. "It's like a Magic 8 Ball, right? Here, let me ask if you should help me."

  Lorelei gave the disco ball an enthusiastic shake, peered at the answer and grinned. "Would you look at that. It says Yes, definitely."

  The disco ball never answered in such bland terms, which meant Lorelei wasn't telling the truth. It also showed that she'd go to great lengths to see her brother reunited with her parents.

  Tori made an instant decision. "If it means that much to you, I'll do it."

  Lorelei threw her arms around Tori. "Thank you. Thank you. It'll mean a lot to Grady and Mom and Dad, too. Just you watch."

  "You're welcome," Tori said, still not sure she'd made the right decision. She took a step back. She'd yet to comb Lorelei's lashes, but the softer colors she'd used on the other woman already looked fantastic.

  "Wade Morrison won't stand a chance when he sees you."

  Lorelei grinned. "That's the idea."

  CHAPTER T WENTY-SEVEN

  Wade trudged up the sidewalk leading to the Wee Care Preschool and Day Care Center, feeling more alone than he ever had in his life.

  He'd read the writing on the paint-splattered chalkboard last week after Mary Kate and Ashley had gotten through with it.

  Expelled, it said.

  He fully expected that the director of the preschool had already made her decision. This meeting was merely a formality.

  He'd need to stay home with the girls until he figured out another arrangement.

  This weeke
nd while he was visiting his parents, who lived in a retirement community in his hometown of Tallahassee, he'd briefly considered asking his mother to live with him in Seahaven until he ironed out the problem.

  He'd changed his mind when he noticed that his father, who was twenty years her senior, didn't get around as well as he used to. His arthritis had flared up, he needed surgery to correct cataracts and his doctor warned him to watch his weight.

  Wade concluded that Dad needed Mom more than he and the girls did.

  What the girls needed was a woman who loved them without reservation.

  Mary Kate and Ashley's mother didn't qualify. Oh, she loved them. But her patience wore thin after a few hours in their presence.

  Asking her to care for the girls until he made other arrangements was not an option. On the rare occasions she exercised her visitation rights, she returned the twins well before the agreed-upon time.

  Unfortunately Wade had exhausted his annual sick time on doctor appointments, tummy aches and sore throats.

  He sighed. Even if it meant taking unpaid leave, he'd make it work out. He always did.

  So why did he feel so alone today? He refused to attribute it to Lorelei Palmer's absence. For an instant there at City Hall, when she'd offered to go to the meeting with him, his burden had seemed lighter. But she was so young and flighty he hadn't truly believed she'd show.

  The screech of brakes stopped him before he could enter the center. A red sports car with the top down and a blonde behind the wheel pulled into an empty space in the parking lot.

  Lorelei got out of the car, waving and rushing toward him on her ridiculously high heels, her blond hair billowing behind her, her tight skirt preventing her from taking long steps.

  His spirits, incredibly, lifted.

  "Sorry I'm late," she said. "Grady gives me such a hard time about leaving work that I had to wait until he wasn't around to sneak out."

  She finger combed her hair, smacked her lips together and smoothed her skirt."How do I look?"

  He'd thought Lorelei a beauty the instant he laid eyes on her. Today she looked positively gorgeous.

  "Beautiful," he said before it occurred to him that he shouldn't encourage her.

  She beamed, making him forget that encouraging her was a bad idea. "Then I guess it was worth it."

  "What was worth it?"

  "Never mind about that. Let me take a look at you." She stood in front of him and gave him the critical once-over. "You'd look better out of those clothes than you do in them but you're probably hitting the right note for a meeting at a preschool.”

  "I thought so," he said dryly, trying not to let on that he was amused.

  "Your hair's falling into your face." Her fingers felt cool and smooth against his forehead when she reached up to smooth back his hair, making him wonder how they'd feel on other parts of his body.

  His hair fell forward the moment she stopped touching it. "It always does that," he told her.

  "Now if I could only get your hair to fall into my face," she said, her eyes twinkling. His body heated, not a good thing considering their destination.

  "Lorelei," he began.

  "I know that now is not the time," she interrupted, hooking her arm through his. "I know this is important, and I'm as ready as you are. Preschool Gestapo, here we come."

  "They might get uptight if you refer to them as the Gestapo," he whispered to her as they entered the building together.

  "Yeah, well, remember we're the good guys here. We'll go to war if they dare try to toss out M.K. and Ash."

  Wade mentally grimaced, wondering why he hadn't recognized the danger of bringing Lorelei with him before now. She was as unpredictable as the next card dealt in a game of five-card stud. Who knew what would come out of her mouth next?

  A young woman with her hair in a long braid sat behind a bright yellow counter that effectively blocked passage to the rest of the center. Wade recognized the woman as a part-time worker who helped out during the mornings.

  Beyond the counter, walls adorned with cutouts of rainbows, teddy bears and cartoon characters led to classrooms of students who were divided depending upon their age.

  "We're here to fight for the rights of children too young to stick up for themselves," Lorelei announced.

  The baffled receptionist looked to Wade for help.

  "Good morning, Amy," he said. "I have an appointment with Donna Trent. This is Lorelei Palmer. She's with me."

  "Of course," Amy said, her brow clearing. "Donna said I should send you right in when you got here. She's in her office."

  She nodded toward the room adjacent to the counter. The door was ajar. Wade rapped on it anyway, getting a portent of doom when an unsmiling Donna Trent gazed up at them from her desk.

  The woman's warmth, which could light up her round face, had been one of the factors that decided Wade upon the center. None of that warmth was on display now.

  "Come in and have a seat, Mr. Morrison.” She flicked a glance at Lorelei. "And who are you?"

  Lorelei stepped boldly into the office. "Lorelei Palmer."

  "She's a family friend," Wade said. "Feel free to say whatever you need to in front of her."

  "I'm afraid it isn't good news.” The director removed her reading glasses and carefully set them on her desk. "Ashley and Mary Kate have been quite the handful lately."

  "Well, of course they are," Lorelei declared. "They're three-years old."

  Donna Trent blew air from her nose. "Perhaps I didn't state that strongly enough. The twins have become a disruption."

  "In what way?" Wade asked, although he feared he already knew. He'd heard the stories often enough from babysitters.

  "You know about the finger-paint incident, of course," she said. "Lately Mary Kate has been throwing food at the other children at snack time. Ashley has been disrupting naps by skipping around the room while singing jingles from commercials. I could go on but you probably get the idea."

  "What would you like me to do about it?" Wade asked.

  She tented her fingers and frowned. "I'm afraid it's too late for that. I hate to do this. Unfortunately I have to let Mary Kate and Ashley go."

  Even though he'd expected as much, Wade felt himself deflate. He got ready to mount an argument against expulsion. Lorelei beat him to it.

  "No," Lorelei said in a loud, clear voice.

  "Excuse me?" Ms. Trent had delivered the bad news to him but now focused on Lorelei.

  "No, you can't kick them out of preschool," she said. "That's not acceptable."

  Ms. Trent's chin rose. "I'm the director of Wee Care. I decide what is acceptable."

  "You need to revise your thinking. If you care as much as the name of the center implies, you'll find another solution," Lorelei said with a full head of steam that made it impossible for anyone to interrupt. "It's unacceptable and unfeeling to kick M.K. and Ash out just because they want attention."

  Wade expected Ms. Trent to lash back at Lorelei. Instead she looked pensive. "That's what you think the problem is? That they're trying to get attention?"

  "Not just anybody's attention. Wade's attention," Lorelei said. "I've been thinking about this, and it's my theory they believe on some level that he'll come to the center and take them home if they act up."

  "That makes sense," Mrs. Trent said thoughtfully, "especially in light of their home situation."

  Wade looked blankly from one woman to the other, feeling as though they spoke another language. "I don't understand."

  "Didn't you say your ex-wife has very little involvement with the children?" Mrs. Trent asked, and Wade nodded. "Ms. Palmer could be right. The twins could be dealing with abandonment issues, which manifest themselves as feelings of insecurity."

  "So acting up is their way of making sure I return for them," Wade said, thinking that could explain the problems he'd had with babysitters.

  "Exactly," Ms. Trent said. "Unfortunately, that doesn't solve the problem of their disruptive behavior."


  "Maybe it does," Lorelei interjected. "What if Wade stops in at the center on his lunch hour for a few weeks? That could be all the reassurance the girls need."

  "It's a thought.” Ms. Trent picked up a pen and pointed it at him. "In the meantime, Mr. Morrison, you can reassure the girls by word and deed that you're always there for them."

  "So they can stay." Lorelei made it a statement rather than a question.

  "They can stay," Ms. Trent agreed, "but it'll have to be on a wait-and-see basis. I have to consider the welfare of the other children in this center, too."

  "I understand.” Wade got to his feet before the director could change her mind. He reached across the desk and shook her hand. "Now that I have a handle on what the problem might be, I can deal with it."

  They checked in on the twins, who readily abandoned their bright-colored building blocks and launched themselves at their father. Afterward, Wade walked Lorelei to her car.

  "The girls seemed relieved when I told them I'd stop back at lunch time," he remarked.

  "See," Lorelei said smugly. "I told you so."

  "But how did you figure that out?" he asked, shielding his glasses from the bright morning sun.

  "Takes one to know one, I guess."

  "What do you mean by that?"

  She shrugged, a seemingly casual gesture that he knew wasn't. "You know my brother Grady, right? He was a model child. Good grades, good athlete, good behavior. He's eight years older than me. By the time I was in grade school, I already knew I'd never stack up. So I got attention my own way."

  "You acted up," she finished.

  "Still do.” She stood on tiptoes, hooked her arms around his neck and kissed him full on the mouth with a heat rivaling that of the morning sun.

  Then she winked at him and got in her car.

  She hadn’t needed to kiss him to get his undivided attention. The meeting this morning had proved there was much about her to like and admire.

  "Lorelei," he said before she could drive away. She gazed at him, and he met her eyes. "Thanks."

  She blew him a dramatic kiss.